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Steve really did not like this plan. First of all, they’ve barely had any time to truly think this all the way through. Second of all, whose idea was it to let Max, Lucas, and Erica go to the rundown old Creel House with no adult supervision and taunt the big bad? Ultimately, he understood that he, Robin, and Nancy were the ones most proficient enough with the weapons they gathered to kill that Vecna bastard, but it still did not sit right with him to send the three kids alone. If their timing was off by even a minute, Max could very well end up Vecna’s next victim.
These little shits were under his care, and as their unofficial-official Upside Down Babysitter, he was absolutely not okay with them doing this. Max was the closest thing Steve had to a little sister (other than Robin, who was more like his long lost twin). Yeah, she annoyed the shit out of him, but it was his job to protect the little spitfire, especially if her own mother wasn’t going to do it. Now, she had to put herself into harm's way just so the group had a fighting chance at barbecuing the monster that was in her head. Anything could go wrong on their end, and knowing their luck, it probably would.
Steve recalled the conversation that he and Robin had had when they were pouring kerosene into empty bottles for the Molotov cocktails back in that field before the battle. She had turned to him, her face full of quiet resignation and told him that she thought things might not work out for them this time. Hearing the full plan from Nancy had him feeling the same way, truth be told. There was something about the way the Party was split up that sank like a stone in his stomach. Maybe it was his intuition or maybe it was his “mom” instincts, but somewhere deep inside himself, Steve Harrington knew he couldn’t let Max, Lucas, and Erica go alone.
Which is why before they all left and scattered around Hawkins, both in the Rightside Up and the Upside Down, Steve pulled Robin and Nancy aside. He knew they were on a tight schedule, one dependent on all parts succeeding in their missions with no faults, but the plan needed to change.
“What is it, Steve? We need to head out now,” Nancy asked as she paused her packing. She’d already packed and unpacked the supplies two times, but this was as far as she would allow her nerves to be visible to the rest of the group.
“I need to go with Max and Lucas–” Nancy immediately opened her mouth, “No, let me get this out.” And she promptly closed it. “Anything could go wrong on their end, Nance. They need an experienced fighter with them, especially since we might have tipped off Jason and his jocks back at the War Zone. Look, you and Robin are fast and powerful. The two of you can sneak in and kill that bastard. I believe in you, but I need to be with the kids,” Steve said, looking between Nancy and Robin as he finished his impromptu speech.
Nancy was already shaking her head, preparing to shoot his idea down, but Robin slowly moved her hand onto Nancy’s shoulder before answering, “Is your gut telling you to go with them, Steve?” At his nod, Robin gave a jerky nod in return. “Then go. Protect the kids here and we’ll protect them from the Upside Down.”
Nancy sighed, “Are you sure, Steve?”
“I know you can do this, Nance. You’re a badass with those guns and with Robin on top of the Molotovs, you two will be unbeatable. You’re going to save Hawkins,” Steve responded, giving her a small smile. Things were still awkward between the two, especially since Steve’s little six nuggets discussion, something he desperately hoped to forget. Truth be told, the ship for Nancy Wheeler had long since sailed. It just about crashed and burned after the whole “bullshit” incident of 1984.
"Fine, but Steve, we're taking all the firepower with us. What are you going to defend them with?" Nancy asked, ever the voice of reason. Steve couldn’t bite back his smile.
“Well, while you were busy committing a felony with that shotgun of yours…” Steve started, twirling around to pick up something that was hidden under the seat of the Winnebago, “I was putting a little something together.” There, held firmly in his grasp, was a bat riddled with nails.
Robin let out a laugh and smiled as she approached the weapon and tested its sharpness, but Nancy only sighed. “Aw come on, Nance. It’s my weapon of choice. Worked pretty well against a Demogorgon, I think it’ll manage against anything else that might come our way.”
“I still don’t like this, Steve,” she said, finally meeting his eyes.
“I don’t like anything about this, Nancy,” Steve admitted, his gaze just as steely as hers. Nancy gave a short nod of approval. The new plan was set.
~♦~
The ride to the Creel House was relatively quiet, given the severity of what each group was going to be up against. Nancy and Robin were going to attack Vecna’s physical form from the Upside Down, while Dustin and Eddie distracted the Demobats. Meanwhile, Max would distract Vecna’s mental form by using herself as bait, and Lucas would be there with her Walkman to keep her safe. Steve would play defense and Erica would be lookout.
“I just don’t understand why you’re coming with us, Steve. We can protect ourselves,” Max started, gripping the seat of the Winnebago to keep herself calm. She wasn’t happy with the addition of Steve to their plan, and from the hurt look in Lucas’ eyes, neither was he.
Steve put both his hands in the air to placate the teenagers. “Look, I’m not saying that you can't protect yourselves,” He quickly cut a look to Lucas. “or each other. I’m just worried that we haven’t thought of every variable here. It would make me feel a lot better if I knew that at least one adult was there to make sure nothing goes wrong, and seeing as how we’re pretty low on adult supervision, that’s gonna have to be me,” Steve sighed, his eyes falling on Max as she curled in on herself, probably thinking of what Vecna would show her in the coming visions. “Even if I don’t like the plan all that much.” With that, Max looked up and met his eyes, her own swimming with uncertainty and barely masked fear.
He gave the young redhead an assuring nod and pulled her into a deep hug. As Max buried her head in his chest, Steve looked to Lucas and pulled him in as well. From behind him, Steve could hear Erica’s sigh of annoyance at the scene. Steve fought a smile as he reached one arm behind him and dragged the younger Sinclair into the hug as well, and despite her supposed exasperation with the situation, her grip was just as tight as Lucas and Max’s.
“Hey, we’re gonna be okay, all of us.” Steve pulled back and reassured all three children. Children, they were just children. How the hell did it come to this? What world were they in where the only adults around to protect these kids were just slightly older teenagers. Steve may have been nineteen, but he sometimes still felt like a child himself.
“We’re here.” Nancy’s call from the driver’s seat of the Winnebago cut through his thoughts. This was it, they would defeat Vecna and this whole Upside Down shit would finally be over. At least, Steve prayed that it would be the end.
Making his way to the front of the camper, Steve joined everyone else outside. Mere seconds after stepping off the Winnebago, he was enveloped in a crushing hug by Dustin. “Don’t you dare die, asshole.” The teen sniffed, as Steve circled his arms around him. “You still have to take us to the arcade next Saturday.”
“Don’t worry, you runt. I’m not going anywhere.” Steve carefully laid his hand on top of Dustin’s head and ruffled his curls, making the younger boy careen away with mock disgust. “You stay safe. You’ve got a bigger job than me, so show the Upside Down who’s boss, okay?” With a nod, Dustin backed away from Steve and walked over to Max and Lucas to give his goodbyes, leaving Steve and Eddie alone.
“Watch over Dustin, okay? Make sure he’s safe,” Steve asked as he pulled Eddie into a hug. Eddie looked surprised that he had received a hug as well, but nothing bonded people together faster than the near apocalypse.
“Of course, man. I’ll keep him safe, scout’s honor!” Eddie replied, giving a salute. Turning away, Eddie was stopped by Steve’s hand grasping his forearm.
“Hey, Eddie?” At Eddie’s confused trill, Steve continued, “Give ‘em hell.” Determination filled Eddie’s eyes as he nodded, a silent promise between the two having been formed. Eddie shuffled off, his vacated spot immediately filled by Robin. She twiddled with her hair, refusing to meet his eyes.
“You better know what you’re doing, dingus,” she choked out the last word, her voice watery. Robin brought her sleeve to her eyes, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.
"Hey, hey now, Robbie, none of that. It's going to be okay," Steve comforted as he gathered Robin into his arms, her arms latching on to his midsection. Similarly to Dustin, she buried her face into his chest.
Breathing him in, she gave herself a second to compile herself. “We’re gonna kill this fucker.” She sniffled. “And be back to rewinding tapes and kicking kids out of the adult section in no time.” She choked out a laugh, Steve’s own joining her. She patted his shoulder and made her way back into the camper, knowing that if she stayed a second more, she would never leave his side again.
“Stay safe, Rob,” he muttered, like a prayer. His eyes finally fell on Nancy, who was awkwardly watching the interaction. "And don't think I forgot about you, Nance. You keep yourself safe, as well. Vecna's gonna wish he was never born when he has to deal with the two of you." At that, Nancy's frown twitched into a semi-smile.
"Thanks, Steve. We'll see you once this is all done." Well, that was about as friendly as Nancy Wheeler was going to get with him, and it surprised Steve how much the distance between them didn’t bother him anymore. They both held mutual respect for each other, but those days of puppy love were forever behind them. Maybe, once this whole Vecna business was done, he'd put in the effort to actually become friends with Nancy, and this whole awkwardness between them could fade away.
"Kick his ass, Wheeler," Steve replied, watching the girl get back into the camper and start up the engine. The clock had officially begun and goodbyes were cut short. Standing behind the children with his trusty nailbat on his shoulder, Steve watched on in silence as the Winnebago drove off with the rest of their friends, their family. They’d make it, they just had to.
"Alright, guys, listen up. Each of us knows the plan, which means nothing is going to go wrong. And on the off chance something does go wrong, that's what I'm here for," Steve said, jutting his hip out.
“You do that, Super Mom!” Erica shouted behind her shoulder as she walked into the Creel House with no fear.
“Watch out for any broken glass and rotten wood!” Steve shouted back at her. Realizing what he had said, Steve pinched his nose and hung his head, refusing to look at the other two teens. “Ah, dammit. I really am the mom.”
Max snorted, while Lucas tried to hide his own smile. At least they can still smile and laugh with everything going on. Steve thought.
“Well,” he sighed, “might as well get this party started, right?” Steve asked no one in particular.
“Wouldn’t exactly classify this as a party,” Max scoffed, looking up at the imposing house. It was like a physical manifestation of Vecna’s soul: decrepit and dark; haunted. She tried not to react to the shiver that ran down her spine.
“What about an early celebration of Vecna’s death?” Lucas asked. The thought made Max smile, and he silently cheered to see it on her face. It had been too long since Max Mayfield had smiled a real smile, no sarcasm or dry wit. It was small and it didn’t last, but hopefully, he would get to see a million more of her smiles once this Upside Down business was done with. Lucas had to believe that.
“Yeah, I think we can work with that. Alright kiddos, let’s go stalk this evil dimensional wizard.” To punctuate his point, Steve brought his bat up and balanced it on his shoulder, hitting his (hopefully) cool guy pose.
“Sorcerer,” The two teens in front of him corrected, turning on their heels to walk into the house together.
“Sorcerer, okay, whatever,” he muttered, immediately deflating and accepting defeat. He shuffled in after them, closing the door behind him and avoiding the glass of Robin’s so-called ‘key.’ Steve took a second to center himself, mentally preparing himself for what the night would bring.
But first, there was nothing left to do but wait.
~♦~
The waiting was the worst part, Steve decided.
The four of them had precariously tip-toed throughout the whole house, checking each room for Vecna with the glow of their blue lanterns. The sun had long since set, which left the already creepy home far scarier, long shadows playing tricks on their mind out of the corners of their eyes. They soldiered through. After all, Max’s life and the lives of everyone in Hawkins were in their hands. Not a terrifying thought at all.
It was Erica that had finally located Vecna within the vast house. She led the four of them into the living room, where her lantern pulsed and buzzed loudly. Quietly, she uncapped her marker and began writing a message for Lucas.
Phase one? Lucas nodded, and Erica matched the gesture. Quick on her feet, the young girl made her way out the house and across the street, where she and Steve would keep watch.
Steve didn’t follow, not just yet. Instead, he turned to Max and gave her a once over, checking her over. Then, he did the same to Lucas, ensuring both were prepared for the next phase. Steve uncapped his marker with his teeth and wrote his message for the two.
Yell if you need me. He showed the notepad to both of his kids, waiting for their nods of understanding before he flipped the page and wrote again. Be careful. Another page flip. Protect each other. The last message was met with stony resolution from Max and Lucas. Steve brought them into a hug, squeezing their shoulders with things left unsaid, before heading out to the tetanus giant that was the playground. He made sure to grab his nail bat on the way out, preparing for any way that this plan could go sideways.
The street was deserted as Steve crossed it, save for a man walking his dog down the way. He hunkered down next to Erica, gazing up at the eerie blue glow that emanated from the Creel House. Steve swallowed the helplessness that bubbled up, knowing that he couldn’t be with Max and Lucas during this moment. He was their backup, a contingency that they hopefully wouldn’t need. All he could do now was to wait for Nancy and Robin to meet at their location in the Upside Down, and then phase two could begin.
“So…Dustin told me that you helped them win Griffins and Gargoyles.” Let it be known, Steve Harrington was not that stupid. He’d been on the receiving end of a D&D rant from his kids enough times to know it was Dungeons and Dragons, but the faces they would make when he called it something wrong? Priceless. Exhibit A:
“Dungeons and Dragons,” Erica hissed at him, climbing to the top of the rocket-shaped equipment. She narrowed her eyes and huffed at him. “And I’m the only reason Vecna was destroyed. I rolled a Nat 20." She paused, looking him up and down. “That’s the highest it goes, you know?” It was Steve’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Yeah, I know that much.” Steve twirled his bat around, scanning the street from left to right. “Well, congrats on your win.” He let the sentiment sit for a second before continuing on. “Lucas missed you at the game.” There was no judgement in his tone, but Erica looked defensive regardless.
“Why would I want to watch a dumb basketball game when I could be doing something actually fun?” she asked, avoiding his eyes.
“I get that,” Steve soothed. “I just think it would have meant a lot to him if you had shown up. Or if any of them had shown up. It probably hurt him to see that they replaced him so easily.” Guilt flashed across Erica’s face before she could bury the emotion behind her signature snark.
“Yeah, I suppose,” The girl grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. Steve just gave her a small smile and dropped it, letting the two of them settle back into silence. No use in getting Erica distracted or aggravated before the next phase. “He scored the winning shot, right?” Erica suddenly asked, her voice the softest he had ever heard it.
“Yeah, he did. It was pretty cool. Like rolling a 20 cool,” Steve said with a smirk. Erica scoffed in response, but she was smiling as she did so. It felt like a small victory; a burst of joy during such an awful week.
The flashlight in Erica’s hand suddenly burst to life, illuminating the street in its golden glow. The light died down and then came back again in full force. Nancy and Robin had made it to the house safely. Steve let out a sigh of relief and the knot in his stomach loosened ever so slightly.
“Now or never,” he stated, giving his nod of approval to Erica. She immediately sprung into action, positioning herself to flash the flashlight into the broken window of the Creel’s living room. “Come on, come on,” she urged. It took only a few seconds for Lucas to respond with his own flashlight. “Okay, the lovebirds have copied. Max is moving into phase two: distracting Vecna.” Steve tried not to cringe at her loudness, knowing that she was trying to make the words carry to the Upside Down. He felt overexposed out in the open like this.
The two watched from across the street as one of the blue lanterns from within the house began to move. Steve watched with bated breath, his heart stuttering each time they lost sight of that glow. Finally, the blue light stopped exactly where they knew it would: the attic. It felt like hours, him and Erica just laying in wait, their main job done. That familiar anxiety struck him again, like a fire burning in his chest. The sound of tires squealing had Steve turning in his spot to look behind him and his eyes widened as he watched Andy Harper-Lewis and Jason fucking Carver hop out of a car and immediately start running at them.
“Erica, go!” The words had barely left Steve’s mouth before the girl was off like a jet, sliding down the rusty slide to get away from the basketball player. “Jason, don’t!” he shouted, his attention divided between stopping Carver from crossing the street into the Creel House and protecting Erica from Andy. In the end, Andy made the choice for him when he broke out into a sprint and full-body tackled the middle schooler. He pinned her arm behind her back and Steve could just barely make out his whispered threats to break that arm if she continued to move. In the corner of his vision, a flashlight beam from the attic cut through the darkness.
Things had gone wrong, just as Steve feared they would. That anxious ball inside of his chest snapped in an instant and he was running at Andy with his nail bat in hand before he could even process his next moves.
“Get the fuck off of her!” Steve shouted, as he put all his weight behind his shoulder and shoved the jock off of the girl. Andy let out a surprised yell, but recovered fast, twisting his body to face his new opponent. He drew up short when his eyes zeroed in on the nail bat that Steve had pointed at his prone figure. In those seconds, Andy’s eyes flashed with shock, then confusion, and then finally anger.
“What the fuck? Harrington?” Andy cried out, incredulously. He scrambled backwards in the dirt, trying to put more distance between him and the business end of Steve’s bat. From behind him, Steve could hear the rustling of fabric as Erica gathered herself from the ground. He didn’t even have to turn around to know that she was rattled. Most likely, she’d put up a mask of indifference and pretend it hadn’t scared her to be attacked. The thought just made him angrier. She had already suffered so much, and now under his watch, she had suffered more. Again. His hold on the bat tightened, the action not going unnoticed by its next target. “Woah, put down the bat, man,” Andy pleaded, his hands coming up to protect his face.
“Did it make you feel big and strong to attack a middle schooler?” Steve didn’t wait for the answer. “Apologize. Now,” he growled out, never taking his eyes off of the teen in front of him. Andy sputtered, his gaze bouncing between Steve and Erica. Whatever he saw on Steve’s face must have convinced him that the older man was dead serious about using that bat.
“Sorry, sorry.” The words were rushed; drenched in fear. His whole body was wracked with shakes, but Steve couldn’t find it in himself to feel bad. This idiot had hurt one of his kids. All bets were off when it came to that.
“Steve…” Erica whispered, lightly tapping his elbow and pointing over to the Creel House. Fuck, he had to wrap this up quickly.
“Get the hell out of here," Steve snapped, and just like that, Andy was off the ground and making a break for it down the street. With that problem out of the way, Steve took off in a sprint towards the entrance of the house.
“Whatever happens, Erica, you stay down here!” he called over his shoulder, his tone leaving no room for debate. Jason Carver was in the house. Jason Carver was going to ruin everything.
Steve would be damned if he let that asshole hurt Lucas or Max.
~♦~
Steve tore through the house like a bat (ha) out of hell. There was no point in him sneaking around like before. If Carver was already in the house, then that meant the plan was already out the window. He took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the twinge in his sides where the various Demobat bites had torn through his flesh, the blood still fresh and oozing. He would soldier through the pain, just as always.
He barreled his way into the attic, only giving himself seconds to take in the scene in front of him. Carver had his back to the door and he was yelling at Lucas, who had his back turned away from the other teen. Max was between them, where she sat ramrod straight, unmoving. Steve came to a halt at the entrance into the room, his footsteps causing both Lucas and Jason to turn toward him. Steve’s hold on his nailbat tightened and his jaw clenched.
Jason Carver had a gun. He had a gun and he had been pointing it at Lucas’s back.
“Steve,” Lucas whimpered, his eyes cutting to Max’s prone form. Fuck, she was under Vecna’s trance.
“Steve Harrington, right?” Jason asked, his crazed eyes meeting Steve’s. “Look, man, you gotta get her out of here. I think they were trying to do the same thing that they did to Chrissy and Patrick.” Jason choked out their names, but all Steve could focus on was the gun he held loosely in his hands.
“Put down the gun, Carver,” he commanded, eyeing the teen warily. Steve moved away from the door, edging closer to Max in an effort to put some distance between her and the unstable boy. He held out one hand to soothe Jason’s jumpiness, but the other curled tighter around the bat, now resting against the back of his thigh. Steve had never used it on a person before, and the thought should have sunk heavily in his stomach, but the only thought on his mind was protecting his kids.
“You’re not seriously sticking up for this satanic shit, are you? Look at what Sinclair did to her!” Carver’s tone was bordering on hysterical. The gun, still pointed at Lucas even as Jason turned to talk to Steve, shook with each ragged breath.
“He didn’t do anything to her.” Lucas Sinclair harming a hair on Max Mayfield’s head? The idea was almost laughable. “You’re gonna get her killed if you don’t back off, Carver.”
“You’re in on it, aren’t you?” Jason asked, swinging the gun around to now point at Steve’s chest. At least it wasn’t pointed at Lucas anymore. Steve stiffened, nonetheless. “Wake her up, Sinclair,” he commanded, jutting his head at Lucas.
“I can’t,” Lucas sighed, his hands shaking. “Jason, if I wake her too soon,” He took a breath, “we all die.” Steve’s hand twitched around the bat, his mind running through every play he could make.
“You don’t wake her up now, you both die.” Jason cocked the gun, taking steps back so that he could keep Lucas and Steve in his eyesight. Lucas shook his head, paralyzed by fear.
“I think you’ve got everything confused, Carver. We aren’t hurting Max.” The words were softly spoken, but they echoed throughout the barren attic.
“No?” he questioned, squinting his eyes in disbelief. “Then why won’t she wake up?” Fair question, but man was Jason Carver getting on Steve’s nerves.
“We call him Vecna.” What the hell was Lucas doing? “He lives in another dimension. That’s why you can’t see him,” Lucas pleaded. He inched closer to Max, but was stopped by Jason’s gun returning to point at him. Steve ground his teeth in agitation.
“And Eddie Munson and his Hellfire acolytes, what, you all summoned him? This Vecna?” Jason questioned in a frenzy. Steve wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained. Explaining this Upside Down shit to new people usually didn’t go over well, doubly so when said people already want to kill them.
“There’s no cult. There never was.” Steve’s words were clipped, his patience already dried up from having to deal with Andy. Now he had to play it safe; get Lucas and Max away from this lunatic before he started shooting.
“You expect me to believe that? Then why was Chrissy at Eddie’s trailer?” he asked, hatred behind his eyes.
“She was buying drugs,” Lucas said. Steve winced, already gearing up for the blowback that a statement like that would cause.
“Liar!” Jason yelled, pivoting his whole body to face Lucas. His finger found the trigger, but before he could place any pressure on it, Steve rammed into him from the side. They both went down, but Steve was practiced at this, so he recovered much faster.
He stood, the light from the lanterns caught on the bat in his hand. Jason’s eyes widened, the haze of his anger lifting enough for him to finally recognize the real threat that was Steve Harrington. Steve put himself between Carver and Lucas, who was now scrambling to Max’s side.
“Jesus, what the hell is that?” Jason asked, eyeing the bat. Steve gave it a whirl, the weight a comfortable extension of his body.
“None of this concerns you, Carver. Go home, like your buddy.” It was a little bit of a taunt, sure, but as long as Jason kept his sights off of the kids, Steve would be as bitchy as he wanted. Jason’s gaze swept the dusty floor, finally landing on the discarded gun that had slid toward the window nook. Steve was already shaking his head, trying to dissuade the teen from doing anything. “Don’t, I’m serious.” It was too late. Jason was already scrambling back for it. Steve acted without thinking, kicking Jason in the stomach as hard as he could. Carver’s body curled up and skidded across the floor a few feet, a groan of pain escaping his lips. Steve kicked the gun in the opposite direction, far away from either of them.
“Steve!” Lucas yelled, pulling his attention away. He knew he shouldn’t get distracted, but the pure desperation in Lucas’s voice had him turning to look. The Sinclair boy was frantically looking all around. “I can’t find her Walkman!” The device must have been knocked around during the scuffle.
Steve’s eyes hadn’t even finished scanning the room before he found himself on his back, completely taken by surprise by the barrage of punches to his face and stomach. Jason had gotten the drop on him, but Steve had taken beatings much worse than from the fists of the preacher’s son. Jason got a good punch into his nose, and Steve could taste the blood that dripped from the wound in seconds, but the boy wasn’t prepared for Steve to kick out at his kneecap. Carver toppled over from the unexpected kick. Steve rolled to his left, putting distance between them so that he could use those few seconds to grab his weapon of choice, which had been knocked from his hand during Carver’s attack.
Steve got to his feet steadily, listing to one side where his ribs ached from the punches, but righted himself, regardless. He had let himself get distracted and now he was down some health (as the D&D nerds liked to say). He couldn’t afford to hesitate now. Steve took a deep breath and prepared for what he had to do.
Jason sprung to his feet and rushed Steve head on, his movements wild and untrained. The teen had left himself completely open for attack, which Steve took full advantage of, striking the jock dead on in the chest with the bat. The world seemed to freeze, even the frantic stumbling of Lucas came to a halt, as Jason screamed in agony. He stumbled backwards, his hands coming up to cradle the torn flesh that had been ripped open by rusty nails. His fingers came away bloodied.
“You…” he trailed off, looking up at Steve in horror. Steve hardened his resolve, willing to take on the emotional baggage of his decision if it meant saving Lucas and Max. Jason let out a growl, and it reminded Steve of the Demodogs in such a way that he was already swinging his bat down on the boy before he could get too close. Jason’s arm took the brunt of the attack and Steve knew with certainty that he had broken the appendage when he heard the crack of bones beneath metal and wood. The scream that Jason let out was animalistic.
“Leave, Jason, or I swear to fucking God that I will end you.” Steve’s tone was cold and uncaring, the type of sound he only ever used when responding to his father. The truth must have shone through his eyes because Jason faltered.
“You’re a freak,” he spat, blood and spit mixing down his chin. “The whole town will know what you’ve been doing.” Carver was trying to come off as intimidating, Steve could tell, but the constant shakes throughout his body gave away how scared he was. Steve grinned at the boy, daring him to take another step forward.
“Get. Out,” Steve barked, positioning the bat between them in warning. Jason spared one more glance behind him toward Lucas and Max, where Steve could still hear Lucas’s pleas for her to be okay, before tucking his tail between his legs and running for the exit. Steve didn’t let the tension bleed from his body until the thunderous footsteps faded away from the house, replaced with more trepid ones.
“Is everyone alright?” Erica called out, fearful for the answer. They had been up there all alone for too long.
“Erica, help!” Lucas called out, causing the girl to run up the last flight of stairs. She came to a halt in the doorway, taking in the scene before her. Lucas’s arms cradled around Max’s stiff body and Steve’s raised bat, still dripping blood. “Find her Walkman,” he shouted at his sister, the sound snapping both her and Steve out of their stupor. She took one side of the room, while Steve took the other, both looking for the only thing that would save Max from Vecna’s curse.
Erica had no luck with finding the Walkman, although she had stumbled upon the silver gun. She swallowed deeply, the puzzle pieces of what had taken Steve so long fitting into place. What would they have done if he hadn’t been with them, hadn’t had someone to protect them while at their most vulnerable? She was ripped from her morbid thoughts by Steve’s abrupt yell.
“Found it!” he called, digging under the remnants of a wooden side table. He pulled it free, skidding to a stop beside Lucas as the boy took the Walkman from his hands like it was something sacred. They couldn’t have had better timing, as Max’s body started to float, her arms falling away to her sides and legs unfolding. Lucas jumped into action, forcing the headphones over the redhead’s ears and pressed play. The muffled sounds of Kate Bush began, and all three of them waited with bated breaths to see if they were too late.
Max’s eyes flew open with a gasp, as her soul and mind returned to her body. She fell like a puppet cut from its strings, but Lucas was there to catch her, his arms circling her body tight. Steve let out a sigh of relief, the fight leaving his body. He staggered backwards until he hit the wall and slid down to catch his breath. He dragged a hand across his face, wincing in pain as he disturbed the budding bruises left behind by Jason Carver. The pain centered him, letting him know that he had done what was necessary to protect his kids.
“Are you okay? Did it work?” Erica asked, hovering near the redhead. She wasn’t a very touchy-feely girl, but she craved that closeness regardless.
“I saw him,” Max gasped. “El was there. She was fighting him. I don’t–I don’t know if it was enough, though.” Max’s words fell over them like a dark cloud.
If all had gone right, then while Max was tranced, Robin and Nancy would have attacked Vecna’s physical body in this same spot in the Upside Down. But if El was in his mind fighting on that front too, then surely it would be enough, right? Max didn’t seem sure, which meant that all the four of them could do now was wait for the others to return and report back.
“Let’s just…just take a breather, okay?” Steve panted, the adrenaline starting to wear off. “Come here, all of you.” Lucas and Erica helped adjust Max between them before walking her over to Steve’s seated position. The three kids collapsed beside, more like on top, of him. He didn’t complain, just wrapped his arms around them the best he could and brought them in for a tight hug. No one tried to fight it, utterly exhausted with the events of the night. They sat in silence, save for the sounds of their breathing and gradually steadying heartbeats. Lucas was the one to break the silence first.
“Steve?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion. Steve hummed in response, his eyes closed with his head propped against the wall. “Thank you for coming with. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t…” he trailed off, his mind already coming up with the worst case scenarios to haunt his dreams. Steve slowly opened his eyes, gazing down at teens.
“Of course, kid. I’m always gonna be here to protect you all.” It wasn’t really something that Steve could promise, but goddamnit, was he going to do everything in his power to make sure it stayed true.
Steve Harrington had managed to keep his kids safe every other time that the world, both supernatural and not, threatened to harm them. He’d be damned if he lost that streak now.